Defending The Faith, And Morality, Of NonBelievers

Check out the link at the bottom of this post to listen to the interview from Fresh Air today on NPR:

Humanism--the belief that ethics and morality can be vested in rationality, rather than a supernatural deity--might sound like a departure from faith communities and culture, but according to Greg Epstein, it doesn't have to be.

In his new book, Good Without God: What A Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, Greg Epstein responds to challenges against humanism that spring from atheists and religious communities alike. Epstein argues that so-called nonbelievers actually share many important beliefs, and he discusses the importance of investing in these values of tolerance, responsibility, and morality.

Epstein himself is an atheist, and the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University. Good Without God is his first book.

We have faith? I don't think so. If this is some vague reference to "faith in mankind" then that's up in the air and certainly not something of atheistic dogma. I have very little faith in mankind, honestly.

Religious people don't have a monopoly on the concept of faith. Faith, or "confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing" (American Heritage Dictionary) has more to do with the conviction of one's beliefs. I have very strong faith in the belief that there is no God or after-life; this is it, and loving my life as it is and as it is becoming is my source of happiness. What I like about this interview is that it provides a non-theist perspective to non-religious religious people (many people who attend church actually fall in this category) that allows them to consider Christian concepts as more symbolic than literal. Baby steps, you know?!